'Hugo' sounds great to Cinema Audio Society
Film beats out fellow sound mixing Oscar nominee 'Moneyball,' among others
Sacha Baron Cohen in "Hugo"
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The Cinema Audio Society has made some interesting calls over the years. "True Grit" last season, in the face of blockbuster and eventual Oscar winner "Inception." "No Country for Old Men" in 2007 rather than the skillfully layered "Transformers" (and, again, eventual Oscar winner "The Bourne Ultimatum"). "Road to Perdition" over musical heavyweight "Chicago" and feast for the ears "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers."
I applaud that. Very much. And indeed, when you look over their history, they often eschew the big, "loud" stuff that tends to have an easier time at the Oscars. In addition to the above-mentioned "Inception" and "The Two Towers," they ignored all the "Spider-Man" films, all the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, "King Kong," "The Dark Knight," etc., etc. Well, tonight they did something they have done a few times in the past -- they went with a serious Best Picture contender that doesn't really have showcase sound qualities. They went with "Hugo."
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'Hanna,' 'Pirates of the Caribbean' among Cinema Audio Society surprises, 'Transformers' snubbed
'War Horse' gets ignored by yet another guild
In the past the CAS has awarded films like "Forrest Gump," "The English Patient," "The Aviator," "Dreamgirls," the above-mentioned "No Country for Old Men" and "Slumdog Millionaire" when there were more deserving entries in the field, and I think that's the case this year. I'd have gone with "Hanna" or "Moneyball," the two surprise nominees of the bunch, before Martin Scorsese's big opus, personally.
The question now is whether "Hugo" is indeed the one to watch for Oscar. Most think so. But I don't quite get it. "War Horse" was not among the CAS nominees, which is a knock against its Oscar chances. Ditto "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," probably the best sound job of the year.
I've been leaning on "War Horse" to take both sound categories since the nominations were announced, but I'm starting to lean toward a split. My rule of thumb generally is pick one film for both, as far as hedging on predictions is concerned, but perhaps "Hugo" wins sound mixing and "War Horse" takes sound editing? There are some who think the big phase two push on behalf of "Transformers" could land it one of the prizes, but I still think that's doubtful.
Anyway, we still have a week before we need to settle on final calls. I intend to take all of it making up my mind.
Remember to keep track of all the ups and downs of the 2011-2012 film awards season via The Circuit.
For year-round entertainment news and awards season commentary follow @kristapley on Twitter.
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About This Blog
Spearheaded by editor Kristopher Tapley, In Contention represents a collective of awards obsessives who comment and reflect upon, muse about and attempt to decipher the Oscar season on a daily basis throughout the year, and especially during the Oscar crunch of the fall. Regular contributors include Guy Lodge, Roth Cornet and Gerard Kennedy.
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2011-2012 OSCAR NOMINATIONS
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Screenplay
Best Art Direction
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Film Editing
Best Makeup
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects
Best Animated Feature Film
Best Documentary Feature
Best Foreign Language Film
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupJLPatt
February 19, 2012 at 2:20AM EST Reply to CommentWow, are all of these guys announcing at exactly the same time or are you just happening to get around to them now?
"Hugo" for Mixing and "War Horse" for Editing sounds good to me.
Kristopher Tapley All of these happened around the same time tonight.
February 19, 2012 at 2:22AM ESTJeremy
February 19, 2012 at 2:32AM EST Reply to CommentI'm pegging a split also, but I'm picking the reverse, with "Hugo" taking Sound Editing and "War Horse" winning Sound Mixing. My rationale is that "Hugo"'s sound design is a bit more innovative, whereas "War Horse"'s is more traditional; given that editing is more about creativity and mixing is more about the overall blend, I think "Hugo" makes more sense for the former. Of course, it's possible that my rationale is entirely mush, but I'm sticking with it.
Kristopher Tapley I wouldn't think that hard about it because the Academy certainly doesn't. I tend to think with splits they go with the film the like more for sound mixing because that's something they KIND OF understand. For sound editing, that's where they'll get a little more creative or go with something else (like, say, Slumdog/TDK).
February 19, 2012 at 2:40AM ESTBut who knows.
Dennis
February 19, 2012 at 4:20AM EST Reply to CommentI've been predicting Hugo for Mixing and War Horse for Editing since the nominations were announced, and I'm sticking with it. Hugo is looking good with CAS and BAFTA, and Sound Editing appears to have a tendency to go to war films. That said, each film is my alternate in the opposite category.
Guy Lodge
February 19, 2012 at 5:56AM EST Reply to CommentYes, it's perhaps worth noting that Hugo took the BAFTA too. As I wrote in my Oscar Guide piece, I think a lot of voters who don't know a thing about sound mixing are going to check it off here simply by virtue of it being the top nominee.
JJ1 Excellent point. CAS + BAFTA + BP nominee certainly looks good for Hugo in Sound Mixing. But like Kris, I've always thought that War Horse gets "something". Maybe I'll give-in and do War Horse, sound editing, Hugo, sound mixing, as well. It's sounding right; which means it'll be wrong. But whatevs. :)
February 19, 2012 at 9:06AM ESTLousyPancakeEater
February 19, 2012 at 5:20PM EST Reply to CommentHugo for mixing and War Horse for editing feels likely to me. But I agree with the logic that even if a split seems like a very real possibility, the smart move generally from a predicting stand point is still to stick with one film for both. I'll say Hugo takes both.
John
February 20, 2012 at 12:20AM EST Reply to CommentI know that guilds can be a good way to build momentum and often indicate where the Academy might be going. But I often wonder what direct impact these types of awards have on Oscar voters.
Do you think that the guild selections actually might persuade Academy members to choose something that they might not have voted for otherwise?
In any case, I would assume that these announcements from CAS, WGA, etc are too late to have much of an influence, given that the Oscar voting deadline is almost here.
JJ1 Right. Like, I wonder: do we think that some Academy members seek out Academy members in specific branches to see what they think should win/should they vote for? Surely, there are friends within the Academy that spread across the branches. Is that an important component?
February 20, 2012 at 10:19AM EST